Chapter 14 - Corinne Had Asked About the Money Years EarlierCorinne's interest in the trust predated Elise's death.
That did not mean she had spent six years planning to steal it.
Alistair repeated that to himself.
He refused to turn suspicion into fact simply because it fit his anger.
But the timeline mattered.
Elise's video continued.
“The first time, Corinne asked casually. The second time, she wanted to know who controls it if something happens to you.”
Alistair's chest tightened.
Elise gave a tired smile.
“I told her she should become a lawyer if she's that curious.”
Then:
“I don't know why she's asking. Maybe she's trying to understand how wealthy families work. Maybe she thinks she's helping. Maybe she sees a future I don't.”
Elise paused.
“But I wanted it documented.”
The video ended.
Rachel sat quietly.
“What do you think?” Alistair asked.
“I think Elise was careful.”
“Not paranoid.”
“No.”
“What do we do with this?”
“Give a copy to investigators. Let them decide relevance.”
He nodded.
A forensic accountant continued following the money.
The twelve thousand from children's youth accounts.
The twenty-eight-thousand-dollar consulting invoice.
Additional household payments.
Then a larger transfer appeared.
$240,000.
From Corinne's separate investment account to Malcolm's company eighteen months earlier.
Rachel showed him.
“Investment.”
“Or loan?”
“Documents call it preferred equity.”
“What does that mean in English?”
“Corinne expected returns.”
“How?”
“Malcolm's company earns money by placing families into services.”
Alistair stared.
“Children.”
“Yes.”
“My children.”
“In this instance.”
The arrangement itself wasn't necessarily illegal.
The conflict was horrific.
Corinne had a financial stake in the company recommending a placement for her stepchildren.
“Did Dr. Frost know?”
“No evidence yet.”
“Stone Ridge?”
“Unknown.”
Then investigators found something that shifted Malcolm's defense.
He had claimed Corinne told him Alistair approved everything.
But a recovered email from Malcolm to Corinne read:
NEED ALISTAIR'S ACTUAL SIGNATURE OR A CLEAN SUBSTITUTE.
Corinne replied:
YOU'LL HAVE WHAT YOU NEED.
Malcolm:
DON'T SEND IT FROM YOUR EMAIL.
The forgery was no accident.
Both knew.
Rachel looked grim.
“That's strong.”
Alistair barely reacted.
By now confirmation hurt less than discovery.
Then came a more personal message.
CORINNE: ONCE THEY'RE OUT, HE'LL BE ANGRY FOR A MONTH.
MALCOLM: THEN HE'LL THANK YOU.
CORINNE: HE ALWAYS COMES BACK TO QUIET.
Alistair read the line twice.
“He always comes back to quiet.”
Rachel looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Alistair knew.
After Elise died, he worked constantly.
Silence felt safer than grief.
When the children became emotional, he struggled.
When Corinne arrived, she made the house orderly.
Meals on time.
Schedules.
Calm rooms.
No crying at dinner.
No photos moved unexpectedly.
No conversations about death unless planned.
Alistair had mistaken controlled silence for healing.
Corinne knew that.
She believed if Theo and Willa were removed, Alistair would eventually choose peace over guilt.
And maybe, years earlier, he might have.
The thought terrified him.
That night, he asked Willa something carefully.
“Was Corinne always mean?”
Willa thought.
“No.”
He was surprised.
“When did it change?”
“After you married.”
“Immediately?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“When Theo started asking more about Mom.”
That fit.
Theo had been three when Elise died.
As he grew older, his questions increased.
What was Mom's voice like?
What was her favorite food?
Did she read to me?
Did she hold me?
Each question brought Elise back.
Corinne's resentment worsened.
Willa continued.
“She was nice when we called her Mom.”
Alistair looked at her.
“You did?”
“For a while.”
“Why stop?”
“Theo asked if Mom in heaven would be sad.”
His throat tightened.
“What did Corinne say?”
“That dead people don't have feelings.”
He closed his eyes.
“And you?”
“I said that's stupid.”
He almost smiled.
“Then what?”
“She stopped being nice to me.”
There it was.
Not sudden abuse.
Conditional affection.
Love given when the children performed replacement.
Withdrawn when they remembered Elise.
Alistair took Willa's hand.
“You never have to call anyone Mom except who you want.”
“I know now.”
He nodded.
“Good.”
Willa looked at him.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Was Corinne waiting for Mom to die?”
He froze.
The truthful answer mattered.
“I don't know.”
“Do you think she was?”
“I think she wanted a future with me before she should have.”
Willa processed that.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Would you have married her if you did?”
Alistair thought about it.
“No.”
That answer cost him nothing now.
But it changed how he saw his own past.
Then Willa whispered:
“Maybe that's why she hated the letters.”
“Why?”
“Because Mom knew her before you did.”
Alistair stared at his daughter.
Willa was right.
May you like
Elise's letters didn't merely preserve memory.
They preserved proof that Corinne had been seen clearly before Alistair was ready to see her.
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